http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_saudi_flogging RIYADH (Reuters) â A Saudi court sentenced a female journalist to 60 lashes in a case brought after a Lebanese television channel she worked for aired the sex confession of a Saudi man, the reporter and a lawyer said. Rosana, 22, who did not want her full name disclosed, said a court in Jeddah convicted her on Saturday on grounds that the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) she worked for did not have proper authorization to operate in the Islamic kingdom. The ruling follows the sentencing by the same court of Mazen Abdul-Awad to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes earlier in October after he appeared on an LBC show and talked about his sexual exploits. The show has sparked a public outcry in the U.S. ally, one of the world's most conservative countries where clerics have wide-ranging influence and control. "I had nothing to do with Mazen Abdul-Jawad's show. The verdict was just because I cooperated with LBC," the female journalist told Reuters. LBC is a popular channel in Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most conservative societies, and many Saudis tune into its Western-style entertainment programs and talk shows. "I was not aware (that LBC was unlicensed) but in the end this is the verdict and I accept it. I don't want to appeal," Rosana said. The court could not be reached, while a spokesman for the information ministry in Riyadh declined to comment. "This is the first case in which a journalist was tried at a court of summary jurisdiction for an offence relating to the nature of his or her profession," said Sulaiman al-Jumaie, a lawyer who defended Abdul-Jawad. Saudi authorities closed the LBC offices after the show was aired. Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is a shareholder in LBC. Abdul-Jawad, a divorced father of four, was arrested in August after discussing his premarital sexual encounters on LBC's "In Bold Red" program. Judges, who are clerics of Saudi Arabia's strict Wahhabi school of Islam, have wide powers of discretion and can issue sentences according to their interpretation of Islamic law, which critics said has led to some arbitrary rulings. King Abdullah has begun to reform education and the judiciary in recent years, partly to discourage Islamic militancy but he faces resistance from clerics.
Maybe the Obama [US tax-payer funded] Muslim Technology Investment Fund will help moderate the Wahhabi strain of Islam. Hmmm..........maybe if Michigan converted to Islam, they could get some of that money and start to put people back to work. Obama......what a guy !
So Muslims who send children and the poor to blow up others, lash people for questionable offenses (in that story, someone else got 1,000 lashes), kill their daughters or sister for untried "sexual" offenses AND dress their women like sacks of potatoes (when men are not committers of these???) ... are not really doing this?
Well when his supporters credit him with everything good that happens anywhere it isn't surprising that his detractors take the same view on the other side. Critical thinking hasn't been working for the American public for quite a while now (why bother taking the effort to educate yourself when it is so much easier to swallow the left and right wingnuts kool aid) luckily for those who seek to manipulate and control policy for their own gain.
IF only some of you fox dimwits would figure out that Bush was in the same pocket as Bushama. I wonder how long before people wake up and stop falling for the two party scam and actually work together against the whole charade.